Obama to visit India in August or October: Manmohan

Almost a week after he told Barack Obama that India was eagerly looking forward to his visit, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said the American President would be coming on his first state visit to India in August or October.

"Obama will come to India in August or October," Manmohan Singh told journalists on board his special craft when asked about the US president's visit to India.

"Dates are yet to be finalized," the Prime Minister said.

The Prime Minister on Saturday returned home after an eight-day visit to the US and Brazil where he participated in three multilateral summits and held over half a dozen bilateral meetings with world leaders.

Manmohan Singh held wide-ranging talks with Obama on April 11 in Washington on a host of issues, including the civil nuclear deal, counter-terror cooperation and the situation in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region.

Manmohan Singh had told Obama that "India was eagerly looking forward to his visit". Obama had "caught the imagination of millions around the world, including the people of India who were anxious to see him soon in our country", the Prime Minister told Obama.

When Obama comes to New Delhi, he would become the first US president in more than 30 years to visit India in the first two years of his first term. Jimmy Carter was the last to do so during his first term in office.

The last US President to visit India was Obama's predecessor George W. Bush in March 2006. However, Bush visited India in his second term. So did his predecessor Bill Clinton.